Turnout high for early voting in New Bern municipal election

By Eddie Fitzgerald, Sun Journal Staff

Published: Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 05:17 PM.

Victor Taylor, who is running for re-election in Ward 2 against candidate Micah Grimes, put out 20 campaign signs Monday evening along Broad Street for the final run to the election. He said early voting turnout is much better than it was in the 2009 election.

“The first couple of days, we had 250 (ballots cast),” Taylor said. “Last year the first day was 58 and the next was 25. …It is constantly picking up now. There are more and more people now who know their local vote really makes a difference.”

According to records at the Board of Elections, 4,293 ballots were cast in the 2009 New Bern municipal race. That was a 21.55 percent voter turnout of the 19,917 registered voters at the time. Of those ballots, 4,258 votes were cast for the mayor, which showed some ballots were cast with no vote for the mayor.

In 2009, the majority of votes, 2,636, were cast on Election Day; 1,511 were cast during one-stop voting; 93 by absentee mail; and 18 provisional votes were cast.

A November runoff was declared in 2009 that resulted in a total of 4,434 ballots cast for mayor. The runoff was between Lee Bettis and Tom Bayliss. Bettis became mayor with 56.7 percent of the votes to Bayliss’ 43.21 percent, Wray said.

There was also a runoff between Johnnie Ray Kinsey and Joan Bottecher, candidates for the Ward 4 alderman’s seat. In that race, 673 votes were cast, and Kinsey won with 51.11 percent of votes to Bottecher’s 47.4 percent, Wray said.

Early voting in the New Bern mayoral and Board of Aldermen race ends Saturday. Polls then will open on Election Day Tuesday at 6:30 a.m. and remain open until 7:30 p.m.

If the early voting turnout is any indication of the interest in the New Bern races, Election Day may see more voters heading to the polls than in the last city election.

Between Sept. 19, when early voting started, and Wednesday at noon, 1,938 votes had been cast, compared to 1,622 total early votes in 2009, according to the Craven County Board of Elections.

Meloni Wray, director of elections, said there were 1,866 one-stop votes and 72 absentee mail votes.

“I think it has gone well, being new,” said Wray, who started working at the Board of Elections in August. “I think it has been pretty steady for a municipal election. That is based on coming from Cleveland County. Here they seem to have very strong feelings about elections. To me, that is exciting.”

Victor Taylor, who is running for re-election in Ward 2 against candidate Micah Grimes, put out 20 campaign signs Monday evening along Broad Street for the final run to the election. He said early voting turnout is much better than it was in the 2009 election.

“The first couple of days, we had 250 (ballots cast),” Taylor said. “Last year the first day was 58 and the next was 25. …It is constantly picking up now. There are more and more people now who know their local vote really makes a difference.”

According to records at the Board of Elections, 4,293 ballots were cast in the 2009 New Bern municipal race. That was a 21.55 percent voter turnout of the 19,917 registered voters at the time. Of those ballots, 4,258 votes were cast for the mayor, which showed some ballots were cast with no vote for the mayor.

In 2009, the majority of votes, 2,636, were cast on Election Day; 1,511 were cast during one-stop voting; 93 by absentee mail; and 18 provisional votes were cast.

A November runoff was declared in 2009 that resulted in a total of 4,434 ballots cast for mayor. The runoff was between Lee Bettis and Tom Bayliss. Bettis became mayor with 56.7 percent of the votes to Bayliss’ 43.21 percent, Wray said.

There was also a runoff between Johnnie Ray Kinsey and Joan Bottecher, candidates for the Ward 4 alderman’s seat. In that race, 673 votes were cast, and Kinsey won with 51.11 percent of votes to Bottecher’s 47.4 percent, Wray said.

This year, the number of New Bern registered voters has increased to 21,545, and the cost of holding a municipal election also has increased, Wray said.

Wary said the estimated cost New Bern will have to reimburse the county for the October election is $43,000. In 2009, the October election cost a little more than $25,000, she said.

If there has to be a runoff in November, it will cost the city an additional $25,000. In 2009, it cost the city a little more than $17,000 for a runoff, Wray said.

In a runoff, New Bern has to share the cost with all the other municipalities in Craven County holding elections in November and has to pay for providing ballots for the city runoff, Wray said.

A runoff could occur when there are multiple seats in an office to be filled if there is not a majority of votes cast for one candidate. Election boards determine the majority number of votes with a formula: the total number of votes cast divided by the number of candidates. The results are divided by 2, which then provides a majority number of votes, Wray said.

An example is a total of 4,287 votes cast, divided by six candidates. The results, 714.50, would be divided by 2, leaving a majority figure of 358 votes. If no candidate gets that majority number of votes, the candidate who gets the most votes has to be challenged by the candidate with the next highest number of votes before a runoff will occur, Wray said.

“When there is one seat and one office to be filled, as in the mayoral race, the total votes cast for all candidates in the race are divided by two to ascertain the majority. If no candidate for mayor receives the majority of the votes cast, the candidate with the highest number of votes received is declared the winner unless the candidate with the second highest number of votes makes the request for the runoff,” Wray said.Dana Outlaw, who is running for New Bern mayor, predicted turnout for early voting would continue to grow.

“I think, as years go by, early voting will become more and more popular,” he said. “I believe we are up about 30 percent this election. I think it is a trend, and we will see more and more people voting early in the future.”

Outlaw is one of six mayoral candidates that include Alderman and Mayor Pro-Tem Sabrina Bengel, Alderman Denny Bucher, former Alderman Barbra Lee, Tharesa Lee and Edwin Vargas.

Eddie Fitzgerald can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at eddie.fitzgerald@newbernsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @staffwriter3.